2025 year in review

Posted on: 3 February 2026

A much belated year in review post. Completing to-dos has not come easy to me so far in 2026. I actually haven’t completed one since 17th December 2025. I should work on that this year.

This is my fourth year in review post, as I enter into my 5th consecutive year of daily journalling. It’s a highlight of my day revisiting my “On This Day” journal posts to discover how much, or indeed how little, my life has changed in the subsequent years.

I never got round to setting goals for this year, but I’ll do my best to reflect on the year anyway. There are enough “I want to do more/less of this” sentiments in my last review post to mull over how much I achieved in 2025.

Personal life

Similarly to last year, no big changes in my life in 2025. Brandon started in year 1 at school and Alba entered pre-school, her final year at nursery. I’m both enthralled and exasperated by how quickly Brandon’s personality is developing since starting school. His strong emotions make it feel like we’re living with a teenager already. But he’s so bright and inquisitive and forever curious.

Alba is developing a very different personality of her own. Empathetic and gentle, but wild and outgoing at times. It’s so easy to get caught up in the daily and weekly routines and miss the small stuff. But kids will throw something new your way, good or bad, if you’re present to receive it.

Trip highlights included 2 summer holidays - a week camping in Leicestershire and a week by the sea in Salcombe, Devon. We didn’t actually camp, we stayed in a lodge on the camp site, but we got our first experience of campsite life with my larger family, which was great. We also celebrated new year with my in-laws with Airbnb cottage in Oxfordshire. It was a lovely relaxing end to the year, with a great mix of runs exploring the local area and lots of food & drink.

I made a solo weekend trip to Manchester for the marathon in April, where I met up with my sister and her boyfriend. It was a bit of a whirlwind in-and-out trip, but nice to do something way out of my usual routine. More on the race itself below!

I caught the sharp end of a couple of bad Vinted sales, splurging over a few hundred on some dud running shoe copies. I’ve learned my lesson now - be very sure what you’re buying on Vinted; avoid the mass reseller-type accounts, make certain before accepting the purchase, and the classic - if it seems too good (cheap) to be true, it probably is.

I had a big long think about my hobbies in 2025. And wrote at length about it. I’d come to realise as running has increased its presence in my life, it’s squeezed out others. I also reminisced about past hobbies that gradually lost their relevancy over time.

One of those hobbies was going to Chelsea matches. I attended just 3 matches this year, all at Stamford Bridge (down from 10 in 2024).

Work

I’ve gone full steam ahead on migrating old systems to new. There’s something I find incredibly satisfying about porting a legacy codebase to a new one and having modern testing and coverage tools at my disposal. It’s given old business logic a lease of life, improving its test coverage and ensuring its longevity for many years to come.

We still have a long way to go, but it’s satisfying, incremental work that I enjoy. Over time, decisions have been made that favour stability and safety, but in doing so have accumulated technical debt. I’m trying to bring us out of this mindset and being more proactive and less defensive.

I’ve delved into Shopify’s API and extension tools, sharpening my React skills along the way. This was a fun project, and although the learning curve was steep, I enjoyed learning and using Shopify’s development toolkit to build out a set of requirements for our customer service team.

I’ve also really enjoyed learning and using Hotwire more. It’s a great set of tools for the modern developer. Particularly one that doesn’t want to rely so heavily on Javascript for realtime interaction.

Social

I tagged “social” in my journal 142, down from 176 in 2024. This comprised the following types of activities:

• 34 football matches
• 24 bouldering sessions
• 12 house meets (not just ours)
• 15 pubs, cafes & restaurant
• 9 organised events (football matches, races)
• 22 sport meet-ups (running mostly)

Down a fair bit from last year. I haven't exactly withdrawn from society, but I do find myself more content doing less. Consistent Parkruns and running training has eaten into previous social time at weekends. But I still feel we do enough as a family.

Fitness

2025 saw another big year and increase on fitness. I logged a total of 5,232km, up 2% on 2024’s total of 5,114km. Digging down:

• Running was up 12% from 3,141 to 3,521km
• Walking was down 7% from to 1,501km to 1,404km
• Other was down 35% from 472 to 307km

Non-distance-based activities such as bouldering and strength training were a mainstay in 2025:

• I bouldered 24 times (up from 14 in 2024)
• I strength trained 56 times (up from 55 in 2024)

I averaged 17,422 steps/day for the year, almost exactly the total from 2024. More running, but less walking.

Football

I attended 34 Monday night matches in 2025, down 9 from the previous year. I had to stop going for a period during the depths of marathon training in the spring, due to managing a minor injury.

I won just 14 of those games. I definitely felt out of sorts for a lot of this year. An increase in running volume and intensity, and refocus of goals, led to a drop in form in football.

We had a bit of a topsy-turvy year logistics-wise. Our usual venue at Hove Park was unavailable over the summer months as a new surface was laid. We moved to a smaller, faster “always-in-play” pitch at Withdean. This lead to fewer numbers, and a different game that took some physical adjustment. But overall, it was a positive experience to try a different style of play for part of the year.

But I’m still hugely enjoying and reaping the benefits of Monday night’s social game; I’ve got a few years left in me yet.

Strength Training

Similar to last year, I’ve been able to stay consistent with this, with 1-2 sessions a week most weeks. I don’t push my body to the point of failure during these sessions, but I always get a decent burn and training stimulus from them. I see them very much supplementary to my running, as injury prevention and performance enhancing.

I bought a couple of small additions to my home gym - two 5kg regular-sized bumper plates. These have made exercises like hip thrusts and deadlifts, where the weight starts on the floor, easier. I also bought a barbell pad that wraps around the bar making hip thrusts more comfortable and able to take a higher weight.

Bouldering

I’ve really enjoyed my twice-monthly Bouldering sessions. As much a social natter as a physical activity, it ticks a lot of boxes. I enjoy the challenge of attempting tougher climbs and I can feel the benefit to my body.

Cycling

Even less cycling this year than last. 32 activities and 193km total km logged. My longest ride was 32.2km, in May. I can’t really put my cycling drop-off down to much, other than focusing more on my running.

Running

I ran over 3,500km in 2025, just under 400km more than in 2024. I had a target of 3,500 which I just scraped in the final few days of the year. I was ahead of my target and on track to hit my target at the beginning of December, but - in customary annual fashion - I was struck down by a bad case of flu in mid-November. It blew apart my routine, in many ways, not least my running. I only began to pick up my typical schedule in the final few weeks of the year.

Another early illness in the start of the year halted gains I’d made in the previous December and threw a spanner in the works of my marathon training plan. Ultimately I was able to steady the ship and put in a decent build towards Manchester Marathon, however I did fall slightly short of my sub-3 goal. I ran 3:00:58. Best of all, I had a brilliant experience running my first marathon since 2012.

Other races included Paddock Wood half marathon in March, where I ran a slightly disappointing 1:27:17, 100 seconds shy of my PB. It wasn’t a goal race, however, and I didn’t taper for it.

I also ran 2 10k PBs. One in June, in Worthing, 37:17. The second in November, in Brighton, 36:36. I exceeded my targets in both these races, and in particular, the result in Worthing was a bit shock. I was on a bit of a downer post-marathon, physically every run felt like hard work. I went into the race hoping for a sub-38, and ended up running a strong negative split.

I managed to run 4 5k PBs in the year too, beginning on the 4th January in Worthing. 18:05. I cracked 18 minutes on Hove seafront at the end of March with a 17:59. In July I ran my first 5k race, on the track in Battersea. It was a fun experience under the lights, and I ran a PB of 17:51. In September I, in Worthing once again, I ran a 17:43 - my current PB.

Not to be overlooked, I signed up for a looped Half Marathon race in Battersea Park at the end of September in an attempt to hit a PB in all 4 major distances. A short, sharp training block, committing to the Norwegian Singles Approach, got me a big PB of 1:23:10. It wasn’t the lofty goal I’d set myself, but it was a sizeable 2:47 minute PB.

The rest of the year I doubled down on the Norwegian Singles Method, convinced of its merits of structured, consistent sub-threshold work. Following the half marathon in September, I was able to gradually build week-on-week up to 94k leading up to Brighton 10k. As mentioned, an illness immediately post-Brighton 10k ended hopes of a strong finish to the year, and possibly another 5k PB attempt. But it was perhaps the quiet end my body desired after a packed year of achievements.

Parkrun

2025 was a bumper year for Parkrun. I’m a fully indoctrinated Parkrunner these days! Just ask my family. I ran 38 Parkruns, and volunteered twice at Junior Parkrun 18 new Parkrun locations this year and 26 in total of the year. As of January 2026, I’m 5 away from completing my Parkrun alphabet! I ended the year on a total Parkrun tally of 135.

Health

2025 was going very well on the health front until mid-November. Until then, I was ill for just 5 days, all in mid-January. Then I was hit with one of the worst illnesses I’ve had in years. Flu, I think, followed by an infection requiring two courses of antibiotics to get rid. I ended the year with a total of 12 ill days.

I got into a good regimen of supplement-taking, adding iron and magnesium glycinate to my “stack”, alongside vitamins B12, C & D (+ zinc). It’s a fair whack, but it ticks a lot of boxes and is pretty cheap to take daily. I still take Huel Black after most runs to fill out any other nutrients I might be lacking in, such as Omega 3s.

The year wasn’t without injury. My hamstring tendinopathy flared up post-marathon, and during the marathon build I developed some mild posterior tibial tendinopathy (ankle/calf area). Neither stopped me running, but more reinforced the importance of regular strength training.

Sleep

It’s been a good year for sleep, aided by the magnesium glycinate I think. Late nights have been curbed for the most part, and early morning runs have become more common.

Upgrading my watch this year has now given me a sleep score out of 100. A daily target I aim for is a sleep score in the 90s. Since September I’ve achieved an average sleep score of 85.

Podcasts

Podcast listens got another bump on last year, continuing the trend. I listened to 737 hours of podcasts in 2025, up 9% on last year. That’s over 14 hours a week (yikes).

I listened to 33 shows in total, with 11 being new. That’s 1 more new show than last year.

Top 5 shows by total listen time

1. ⬆️ Life in Stride (4 days, 14 hours - 104 episodes) - the most fun, informative, inspiring podcast when it comes to running. Some top quality banter between the co-hosts and some excellent quality guests in the running and fitness world. Recently started releasing twice-weekly.
2. ⬆️ The Daily Hobby Jogger Show (4 days, 5 hours - 113 episodes) - I’ve watched Yowana’s show review video on YouTube for several years, but decided to pivot to consuming in audio format. A great companion on long runs to stay abreast of the running shoe world.
3. ➖ Running the Red Line (4 days, 4 hours - 44 episodes) - I never miss an episode. Not quite weekly, but always chonky in size. Veering off topic is these guy’ speciality. The running chatter is great, and the other stuff is usually pretty funny.
4. ➖ Football Clichés (2 days, 20 hours - 84 episodes) - A stalwart ever-present. Always delivers. It’s amazing the amount of funny and engaging content these guys are able to consistently put out. I often find myself laughing out loud on runs.
5. ⬇️ Deep Questions with Cal Newport (2 days, 17 hours - 48 episodes) - Less listening than last year, the format has not really changed. But my interest in the subject matter has waned somewhat. Still a good listen when I’m not into running content.

All-change at number one. Diary of a CEO has been usurped by Life in Stride, a new entry. Deep Questions fell from 2nd to 5th, to be replaced with The Daily Hobby Jogger Show. Running podcasts have unsurprisingly taken over my airwaves this year.

Some new podcasts discovered this year

1. Miles Better - A podcast from the guys at Kaizen, a race predictor & training tool. Not regular, but some good running tips and insights behind the tool, which I used for a few months this year ahead of key races.
2. Physiology of Endurance Running - a bit heavy and sciency at times, and a tendency to be a bit waffly. But there’s some really interesting takeaways about, well, the physiology of endurance running (a mouthful of a podcast name).
3. Internet Dads - some light-hearted, Dad-relatable chatter. I like these guys, they’re fun to share an hour with. Went dark in the final few months of the year for some reason. I expect they’ll be back.

New shows comprised 70 hours of listen time (9.5% of total listen time).

TV

A big increase in TV watching this year, after a dip in 2024. I watched 182 hours in total, up from 125 last year (a 45% increase). I got into some super-engaging new TV shows this year, as well a few firm favourites returning. I had a small break from watching a show in weeks 30 - 36 (mid-July to early September).

Live football accounted for exactly half of my total watch time (91 hours, up from 80 hours in 2024). Premier League led the way with 1 day and 16 hours (23 matches), with Champions League second in 19 hours (11 matches).

TV Show highlights

1. Silo (seasons 1 & 2) - A brand new show. Pacing quite variable, with some dull filler episodes in the middle, but overall I loved this show, particularly the concept and aesthetic.
2. Severance (seasons 1 & 2) - Another new, Apple TV original. Not quite as binge-worthy as Silo, but as watchable as it was bonkers. Left me feeling “WTF” after most episodes. Borderline too weird at times.
3. Squid Game (seasons 2 & 3) - Picked up exactly where it left off. Pure entertainment. A brilliant format of camaraderie and shock horror.
4. Black Mirror (season 7) - One of the few things I blogged about this year! A really strong season of a show I love.
5. Adolescence (season 1) - Gut-wrenching emotion, particularly as a father myself. A stunning first episode; I felt it lost its way a little as the season progressed. But superbly produced and acted.
6. Stranger Things (season 5) - A fitting finale I thought. Just a brilliant climax to a memorable TV franchise. A Gen-Z/millennial crossover classic.

Films & Books

I watched 3 more films than in 2025, 31 in total. Charlotte and I went to the cinema just once, to see 28 Years Later. Overall for the year, my average rating was 4.03, up significantly from 3.39 in 2024.

A few film highlights

• 28 Years Later, 2025
• Alien: Romulus, 2024
• Straw, 2025
• The Gorge, 2025

Reviews can be found on my film page.

I only read 8 books in 2025, 4 fewer than in 2024. It wasn’t a good year for reading it has to be said. I never got into a good reading habit, certainly something I can learn from my wife! I read just 3 fiction books, all of which I enjoyed.

Blogging

I really quiet year on the blogging front. I had very little motivation or topics to blog about. That is something I aim to change in 2026. I blogged just 5 times, down from 19 last year.

Side Projects

I merged 33 pull requests on my personal site this year. That might seem a decent amount, but 5 of those were blog posts being published and 3 were Dependabot package upgrades. Most of the rest were site updates and small bug fixes and housekeeping. I made a few minor visual changes, and implemented a new more performant way of caching Notion API requests. I plan to blog about this in 2026.

My other site, 5aside, saw 14 pull requests merged. Mostly these were Laravel upgrades and Dependabot package upgrades. The rest were refactors/tidy-ups, small fixes and minor nice-to-have improvements.

Adding birth years to the API meant some nice extra data points over 11 years worth of match data. E.g. we can now calculate the average age change from 1 year to the next and see whether more experienced teams win more often than less. Exciting stuff!

Do I have any goals for 2026?

Read more

A broken record at this point, but I’d love to revisit and complete my previous target of one fiction book a month.

Run a sub-3 hour marathon

I have 2 attempts this year, in the Spring and Autumn. I came within 59 seconds last year.

Good more good sleep

I’ve seen the light when it comes to sleep. Sleep is a super power for performance, recovery and mood. Averaging 8 hours a night should be a minimum target.

Make more 1-on-1 relationship time away from kids

Block this in the diary; it’s the only way to ensure it happens with any consistency. A happy relationship is a happy life.

Make a side income

2026 will be the year of the side hustle. I can do this.

Personal site additions

• Move away from year-on-year only filtering, and add pages for all-time TV & podcast shows
• Add completion time to seasons on TV page
• Add more data around popular times / days of the week to watch/listen/exercise

5-a-side site additions

• Add weather data - to really dig into those fairweather players!
• Add key milestones to players - league finishes, appearance milestones, win streaks, etc.
• Improve match creation UI - this is a single textbox that relies on the knowledge of a complex format. It could be a lot nicer and easier for others to use, should the time come when I step away.